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Highways basking in the hot sun are wasted energy. Scott Brusaw's solution? Make them out of solar panels

The road ahead is paved with photovoltaics. That’s how Scott Brusaw
sees it, anyway. His company, Solar Roadways, is embedding PV cells and
LED lights into panels engineered to withstand the forces of traffic.
The lights would allow for “smart” roadways and parking lots with
changeable signage, while the cells would generate enough energy to
power businesses, cities and, eventually, the entire country.

Each 12-by-12-foot Solar Roadway panel would produce about 7,600
watt-hours a day, based on an average of four hours of sunlight. At that
rate, a one-mile stretch of four-lane highway could power about 500
homes. “If we could ever replace all the roads in the U.S., then, yeah,
we would produce more electricity than we use as a nation,” says Brusaw,
an electrical engineer who completed his first prototype panel in
February with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Brusaw’s goal is to get the cost per panel under $10,000. That’s
roughly three times the cost of asphalt. But he wants to make panels
that last three times longer than asphalt roads, which have to be
resurfaced every 10 years in many places. “Then the cost is about the
same,” he says. “But that’s just a break-even. We’re also generating
electricity.”

The key to commercial viability will be the panels’ glass. It must be
textured for traction, embedded with heating elements for melting away
ice and snow, and able to survive years of traffic. “The toughest is
going to be that fast lane on the highway,” Brusaw says, “where you’ve
got a 40-ton truck, maybe with snow chains. It will have to be able to
withstand all that.” At the same time, it has to be self-cleaning if
sunlight is to reach the PV cells; Brusaw points to experimental
hydrophilic glass that uses sunlight to break down organic dirt, and
rainwater to wash it away without streaking.

Next up for Solar Roadways will be qualifying for Phase II funding, a
two-year, $750,000 deal to develop a commercial plan for the panels. At
the end of those two years, Brusaw would like to be ready for testing
in parking lots, which he sees as the perfect proving grounds for the
lights and the power-generation system. Directional arrows and parking
lines could be reconfigured to deal with busy times, and the electricity
generated could feed adjacent businesses. “I talked to the guy in
charge of power for Wal-Mart,” Brusaw says. “Superstores are roughly
200,000 square feet, and parking lots are about four times that. I
crunched the numbers for an 800,000-square-foot lot and told him how
much power it could generate even if it was completely full of cars. It
was 10 times the power they use.”

Brusaw wants to start smaller, though—on the scale of, say, a
fast-food restaurant. A McDonald’s retrofitted with a solar parking lot
could take itself largely or entirely off the grid or become a site for
recharging electric vehicles (while the owners stopped inside for food,
naturally). “Even the best electric cars have a range of about three
hours,” he explains. “But if all I have to do is find a McDonald’s, I
could drive from Idaho to the southern tip of Florida.” Improbable? Yes.
But “Billions of watts served” would be a cool new tagline.

The automatic main gates are a big menace, as they are needed to be
connected to the home outlet all the time. They need a lot of wiring and
underground digging. However, the most worrying fact is the ability of
the gate control to short circuit the whole house electricity. Actually,
most of the time, thieves short circuit these wires that blows the fuse
of the house making it easy for them to carry out their operation
without any difficulty. Very few of the houses have a backup generator
system. Therefore, it is uttermost important to cut off the external
gate from internal power supply.

To tackle the electricity
problem at gate, people can use solar power. The solar power will not
only reduce your current expenditure on main gate control but also will
reduce any power surge risk by external factors. On an average with
fully charged battery, the gate opener can work for 1500 cycles.
However, it can work with minimal charge for 175 times during the day.
Therefore, if you are thinking of changing the power supply of the main
gate to solar power, following steps can be useful to you:

You
might purchase the DUI solar gate opener from any of the solar
appliance deal. Once you have the solar opener kit following items will
be useful for installation:

Drill

Hammer

Shovel

Nails

Wires

Insulation tape

Solar panel

Estimated Cost: The cost can vary from 150 USD to 300 USD depending upon the quality and brand of solar gate opener.

Instructions

1.First,
identify the place near the gate where you want to install the control
box. Once you have identified the area, drill the holes followed by
fixing the control box with screws and hammer.

2. Most
of the time DUI kits come with a sensor device. You need to bury the
sensor under one foot deep ground inside your premises with help of
shovel. The distance between sensor and gate should be close to 40
feet. The exit sensor, however need to be outside. For prevention
from stealing, the best way is to bury it in a small trench.
Connect all the sensors with wire to control box.

3. Connect the keypad and battery to the control box. The
battery should be sealed inside the control box. However, with
large batteries it is preferable to keep them hidden behind the
gate inside your premises.

4. You may proceed with installation of keypad post and setting up passwords for the same.

5. After that, you need to fix the solar panel in a place where maximum sunlight comes.

6. Once the panel is ready, you may connect it to the battery of control.

7. Check the operation of your gate after letting the battery to recharge for a few hours.

Frequentlyasked questions

1. Will my solar gate opener work at night?

Ans: Absolutely, as the battery takes more than overnight to discharge itself fully

2. Will the device work in rain and bad weather condition?

Ans: The device will work fine even in bad weather and bad light condition as long as the battery is sufficiently charged.

3. Where can I find the solar gate opener kit?

Ans: You can purchase them online or you can buy from any solar appliances outlet.

4. Can I make my own control system box?

Ans:
Making control box is easy but with sensors and keypads, it is tough to
make. Better option is to purchase one as they are made waterproof too.

Quick tips

1. Install the control system box in shade to prevent from water and little damage.

2. Install the control system box in a place that it does not affect the opening and closing of the gate.

3. Cover the open circuits of sensors with insulation tape to prevent from ground discharging.

Ah, nothing like a mid-summer promotion… lucky for us, this one is actually pretty cool.

Sungevity, a California-based company that bankrolls the option
tolease solar panels for an increasing number of Americans, is coming
tofive northeastern states — in an ice pop truck.

As part of the company’s Rooftop Revolution campaign,
Sungevityrepresentatives will pile into a bio-diesel-powerd ice pop
truckequipped with solar panels and tour New York, New Jersey,
Maryland,Massachusetts and Delaware. Destinations along the route
include eventslike music festivals, county fairs, farmers markets and
minor leaguebaseball games.

Two other solar lease providers, SunRun and SolarCity, are already active in parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

Patrick Crane, Sungevity’s Chief Marketing Officer, had the following to say about his company’s summer initiative:

[w]ith our ‘Rooftop Revolution’ campaign, we are
takingthe leadership position in breaking through the last major barrier
toadoption – raising awareness around the ease, accessibility and most
ofall, the affordability of solar energy.

Why ice pops? Well, if you couldn’t tell, the campaign is ripe with symbolism, as explained in the press release:

[The ice pops] symbolize solar energy as the refreshing
alternative to fossil fuel. Quarters on Sungevity-branded seeded paper
also will be distributed to symbolize the cost savings
homeowners’typically experience through the company’s $0down solar
lease.

As hokey as the campaign may sound, who in their right mind is going to turn down a free ice pop in 100-degree heat?

All joking aside, it’s great news that Sungevity is moving into
thenortheast. While the region doesn’t get as much annual sunshine as
someother parts of the country — like the southwest — its residents
tolerate some of the highest electricity rates in the country. It is
exactlyhere, where the price for conventional electricity is the
highest, thatsolar power often makes the most financial sense.

Over the years the village's green goals have been so successful that they have even crafted a mission statement — WIR–2020, Wildpoldsried Innovativ Richtungsweisend
(Wildpoldsried Innovative Leadership). The village council hopes that
it will inspire citizens to do their part for the environment and create
green jobs and businesses for the local area.

It’s no surprise that the country that has kicked butt at the Solar Decathlon competition (to produce energy positive solar houses) year after year
is the home to such a productive energy-efficient village. The
village’s green initiative first started in 1997 when the village
council decided that it should build new industries, keep initiatives
local, bring in new revenue, and create no debt. Over the past 14 years,
the community has equipped nine new community buildings with solar
panels, built four biogas digesters (with a fifth in construction now) and installed seven windmills
with two more on the way. In the village itself, 190 private households
have solar panels while the district also benefits from three small
hydro power plants, ecological flood control, and a natural waste water
system.

All of these green systems means that despite only having a
population of 2,600, Wildpoldsried produces 321 percent more energy than
it needs – and it’s generating 4.0 million Euro (US $5.7 million) in
annual revenue by selling it back to the national grid. It is no
surprise to learn that small businesses have developed in the village
specifically to provide services to the renewable energy installations.

Over the years the village’s green goals have been so successful that they have even crafted a mission statement — WIR–2020, Wildpoldsried Innovativ Richtungsweisend
(Wildpoldsried Innovative Leadership). The village council hopes that
it will inspire citizens to do their part for the environment and create
green jobs and businesses for the local area.

As a result of the village’s success, Wildpoldsried has received
numerous national and international awards for its conservation and
renewable energy initiatives known as Klimaschutz (climate protection).
The council even hosts tours for other village councils on how to start
their own Klimaschutz program. The Mayor has even been doing global
tours ever since the Fukushima disaster.

Mayor Zengerle has gone to Romania, Berlin and the Black Sea Region
to speak about how these places can transform their communities and make
money in the process. Speaking to Biocycle,
Mayor Zengerle said, “The mitigation of climate change in practice can
only be implemented with the citizens and with the Village Council
behind them 100 percent of the way. This model cannot be forced from
only one side. We often spend a lot of time talking to our visitors
about how to motivate the village council (and Mayor) to start thinking
differently. We show them a best practices model in motion and many see
the benefits immediately. From the tour we give, our guests understand
how well things can operate when you have the enthusiasm and
conviction of the people.”

Solarcentury, a solar energy company specialized in solar
panels and photovoltaic systems, is one step closer to finish the
construction of London’s largest solar roof. When the project will be
completed, it is also expected to become world’s largest solar bridge.

As the company claims, the solar roof will contain around 4,000 photovoltaic panels above a bridge spanning the River Thames (a part of the Blackfriars station), generating 900,000 kilowatt-hours of clean energy per year, enough juice to power 35 homes.

Scheduled by the middle of 2012, the solar bridge will also get rid of more than 500 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

The Blackfriars upgrade is part of Network Rail’s
Thameslink program, intended to provide longer trains running on the
Bedford to Brighton route through London. When the construction is
completed, more than 24 trains per hour will travel through the central
London section of the route.

“We’re creating a spacious, modern station and delivering a vastly
improved train service for passengers, while at the same time installing
London’s largest solar array to make Blackfriars more
environmentally-friendly and sustainable,” said Lindsay Vamplew, Network
Rail’s project director for Blackfriars.